


A journey by Sea and Land (Five Hundred Miles)

by mm8



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Post Reichenbach, Revelations, Revenge, Romance, Sexual Tension, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-14
Updated: 2012-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-12 02:57:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/485901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mm8/pseuds/mm8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anthea wants to go on holidays but doesn't get off. So she tries to arrange meetings and emergencies for Mycroft to personally visit in all the countries she wants to go to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A journey by Sea and Land (Five Hundred Miles)

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Sherlock's Summer Vacay at sherlockmas and for round 1 at cottoncandy_bingo. Many thanks to the mods of those comms and to my marvelous beta czarina_kitty. 
> 
> This is my first time writing Anthea. I'm terribly sorry if I have not done her justice.

"Anthea, what is this?"

Anthea glanced up from her blackberry from across the room to her boss. Mycroft Holmes was sitting at his giant desk looking at his upcoming schedule and making notes.

"Sir?" She asked formally as she stood up and walked over to stand close behind him. Looking over his shoulder she saw what he was referring to, tomorrow's entry. 

> _Wednesday, 8 August 2012_  
>  _Anthea on holiday until Monday, 13 August 2012. Juno will personally assist Mr. Holmes._  
> 

Mycroft raised an eyebrow at her waiting for an explanation. "Well?"

"I'm taking a holiday, sir." She was slightly confused but did her best not to show it. "A little weekend getaway to Bournemouth. It's been on the schedule for over a year."

"More than a weekend, I think." He turned away, his attention on the electronic device in front of him. "You can't go." His tone was stony. 

It was more than difficult to maintain professionalism at that moment. Mycroft was ignoring her. Deleting her well-deserved time-alone at this very second from the schedule and he didn't even care! "Sir, with all due respect I have been working here since I was sixteen years old and I have not had a single day off."

"And your Queen and country thanks you," Mycroft responded automatically.

Anthea continued to plead her case. "All I am asking for sir, is for a few days—"

"A few days," he interrupted. "In which are crucial to Team GB for these Olympics. Or have you forgotten that the Olympics are still happening just down the road?" 

Anthea held her head up high, "Sir, Team GB has been doing just fine. I am _positive_ that my presence will not be needed—"

"For once," Mycroft fumed. "I am _positive_ that you are wrong." He turned to face her again. "It's not just the Olympics it's the safety of London. Do I have to remind you that my brother is chasing after Moriarty's network all around the world?" He sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I would think we could do him and Dr. Watson and a little respect and stay in London during this time when citizens all around the world have converged here. One of Moriarty's men could be planning something under our noses. London needs you here. I need y—" Mycroft straightened his posture and continued on with his work, sifting through paperwork and making notes.

The matter was over. Anthea was not getting her _scheduled_ holiday. But she was already on her smart phone making appointments for Mycroft all across the globe. She'd get her holiday one way or another.

* * *

As a child, Anthea admired the Vikings. She wasn't sure why. It wasn't as though they were her ancestors or her parents told her stories at bedtime about their legends. Perhaps it was the hats. 

One Halloween she had decided to go as Erik the Red. 

_"Don't you want to be something else, dearie? Like a princess or a fairy?"_ her mum asked.

Little Anthea had put her foot down and on Halloween she put on her Viking helmet, and red beard and trick-or-treated around the neighborhood. She was proud to be Erik the Red, crossing the oceans and conquering lands. 

While her mum had her back turned talking animatedly to a neighbor, a group of older boys came up to her. They made fun of her costume. They spit in her face and tore at her costume and stole her candy. When her mum came back to see her curled up in the bushes, she'd feared the worst. Her mum even took her to the hospital and they asked her all sorts of questions. "Did they touch you here? Have you seen them before? Do you know what they look like?"

Anthea kept wondering what Erik the Red would have done.

She made the first holiday for Greenland. It was a scientific advisory trip on Mycroft's part. 

Together, dressed in layered clothing, they were shown various fjords for their amusement and top secret experiments about global warming for business. 

One of their guides, during the inspection of the scientific facility had such a heavy Greenlandic accent that not even Mycroft could understand what he was saying the majority of the time. Anthea had a difficulty suppressing her giggles at her boss's strained face and veins popping out of his neck. It was nice to see Mycroft Holmes under a little pressure for a change.

At the end of the day when they were getting in the jet to go home, Mycroft commented, "Next time can we go somewhere _warmer_?"

"Sir." Quickly, her fingers moved across the keys and cancelled the animal conservation trip to Antarctica next week and made a note in another folder to reschedule later when Mycroft had gotten on her nerves. 

"Did you know," Mycroft said in casual conversation. "That Erik the Red colonized Greenland during his exile from Iceland? He gave it the name Greenland to attract potential settlers."

Anthea looked up from her phone and gazed at him. Mycroft was sitting across from her, staring out the window with a content look about his face. His umbrella (really why must he bring it everywhere?) was sitting across his lap. 

"Yes, sir," she answered, hiding the fact that she really was a bit impressed.

"You should get off that phone now and again. You can't see what's in front of you."

Anthea snapped her head up, her face beet red. "My—Sir?"

Mycroft reached across the aisle and grasped her hand. "Look, isn't it beautiful?" He nodded to the small porthole window.

Leaning over to see, she gasped at the sight she saw. "Oh my God, Mycroft. It's… it's…"

"Awe-inspiring? Magnificent? Heavenly?" Mycroft smiled. "Yes, I don't believe I have seen the Northern Lights in person either. It's beyond words, isn't it?" He squeezed her hand.

Suddenly, Anthea remembered that she was _holding hands_ with her boss and blushed. She gaped down at their clasped hands. His large pale hand cocooning her tiny one, protecting it. It looked right somehow. She looked back up to the superb display of swirls of greens and purples in the sky. She'd let it go just this once. It wasn't as if Mycroft Holmes felt the same way about her as she did about him.

* * *

When Anthea was in primary school and the teacher asked the class, "If you could be any animal what would you be?" She had answered that she'd want to be a lion without any hesitation. They were fierce, made big noises and no other animals ever tried to hurt them. All of the other girls in her class laughed at her. They all wanted to be kittens or horses or puppies. Cute and cuddly creatures. Anthea didn't want that. Anthea wanted to be strong and brave. Someone no one could take down.

Cameroon was hot and there wasn't exactly anywhere to sit in the cool air-conditioning. But Anthea had decided having sweat constantly rolling down her face and not to smelling her best was all worth it because she got to see Mycroft Holmes in a stereotypical explorer outfit including pith helmet, matching khaki shirt and shorts.

The reason for the trip was to oversee the progress of the development and education of the schools the United Kingdom funded. Usually a different person in a different department would be on this trip rather than Mycroft. But Anthea was excellent at her job and was able to change things up (a fake sickness here, an altered schedule there, a little bribery and boom). 

With her luck Mycroft seemed to be enjoying his time as well.

"The children are wonderful," he commented as they scrolled through the grounds alone after their tour. "Many of them are so intelligent. A girl in the grade 1-3 class already knew her the periodic table by heart. She has an older sibling who taught her. She's very eager to learn math and science it seems. She told me that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up."

"There was a boy in one of the older classes," Anthea retorted to keep the conversation going. "He recited an entire Shakespeare sonnet to me."

Mycroft blushed slightly. "I think he might have fancied you."

Anthea stared at him in disbelief. "Sir?"

Mycroft inched closer, their bodies almost pressed together. Anthea could feel her cheeks flush and arousal starting to take over. He leaned in, his lips so close to his ear…

"Anthea, I—"

"Ah, Mr. Holmes, there you are!" the administer of the school shouted as he came around the bend. "I believe you wanted to speak to some of the educators? Now would be a perfect time."

Mycroft frowned and seemed disappointed. He bit his lip and straightened his lapels and hat before facing the main administer, his façade in place. "Yes, I think that would be delightful. Please lead the way."

* * *

The first wedding Anthea went to was when she was five. Her best friend Marcus' older sister was getting married in the summer-time on a very hot and humid day on a beach. She had to wear a frilly dress that she hated and her mum was a bit cross with her because she had forgotten to put on a pair of panties before they left the house.

The ceremony took forever but afterwards she and Marcus got to play in the ocean for a bit when the adults weren't looking. Neither of them didn't understand what all the fuss was about with weddings, love and kissing. Anthea asked him if he had ever been in love before. He said he thought so once, but his mum said you can't be _in love_ with Thomas the Tank Engine. He asked her if she'd ever kissed anyone before. When she'd said no, Marcus had kissed her. She'd punched him in the face after that. Her mother had been furious with her and made them leave the reception early. Anthea supposed she had gotten what she wanted in the end.

William and Kate had chosen the Republic of Seychelles as the destination for their honeymoon. Not that Anthea was a great fan of following every move of the royal family, despite who she worked for, but royalty did have great tastes in destinations. Seychelles was paradise. White sand, palm trees, turquoise ocean. If only she wasn't stuck in this office taking minutes for this meeting between Mycroft and President James Michel. 

Anthea kept noticing Mycroft's side glances in her direction. It made her heart beat faster every time. She kept remembering the moment they shared while at the school in Africa. She had feelings for her boss for years. She had never dreamed of the possibility that he could possible return her feelings. A romantic part of was screaming 'yes he does, can't you see?' while the other logical half sided 'no, he's Mycroft Holmes, what would he ever see in you?'. 

"I think that is enough for today, President Michel," Mycroft said politely as he stood.

Anthea looked up confused. The meeting wasn't supposed to be over for another hour.

Mycroft stood and shook the President's hand. Mycroft held his arm out for her and said, "Shall we?" 

Anthea grinned and looped her arm into his and exited the State House with her boss. She watched in amazement as he waved off the usual footmen and drivers. Instead they walked in silence, arm in arm down the busy streets of Victoria. Mycroft nodded to a few of the locals as they passed in greeting but mostly he kept Anthea close by his side. 

Anthea was somewhat frightened. She trusted Mycroft Holmes. Completely. She'd take a bullet for him in a heartbeat. But her life with him for the past several years had revolved around a constant schedule. Now Mycroft had veered off that schedule without notifying her first of the changes. Anything could happen.

Finally they turned the corner down a secluded path, full of tropical vegetation and sand underfoot. Once they reached the end of the path Anthea saw that they were at a small private beach.

She turned to him. "What's this all about?"

"Don't think I don't know what you've been up to these many months." Mycroft grinned slyly. He began to tick off with his fingers. "Let me see there was Greenland, Kosovo, Marshall Islands, Cameroon, we even went to Sealand. That's not a real country and was not one of your best ideas," he smiled and gestured to the paradise around them. "And now we're in the lovely Republic of Seychelles. Have you been having a good holiday, love?"

Anthea reddened with fury. How dare he! How dare he after all he put her through! "Well it was your damn fault!" she yelled sticking a finger in the air. "You wouldn't let me have one bloody weekend to myself! _One_ weekend, sir was all I asked for in these many years. All I ever do for you is bend over backwards for you and never ask questions. I hardly sleep or eat and my life revolves around you! Nothing but you!" She huffed. "All I wanted was one weekend, sir. Juno would have done a fine job in my place—"

"I know, love."

"And—" She halted and looked at him with narrow eyes. "Did you just call me love?"

"Twice. You were a bit distracted." His smile was warm. He stepped closed to her and cups her face. "I didn't want you to go on holiday for purely selfish reasons. I didn’t want to be without you by my side. I can't imagine you ever not by my side. You are a constant force in my life, Anthea. I need you." His voice began low as he whispered, "I love you."

"Mycroft." She hooked her arms around his neck. "Shut up and kiss me."

The kiss was tender and soft. They took their time to make it last.

When they parted, Mycroft whispered hotly in Anthea's ear, "So love, where do you want to go next?"

**Author's Note:**

> * Kudos are amazing and I will never stop asking for them, but getting comments, actual feedback from readers means so much. Taking five seconds out of your time can really make my day.
>   
> 
> * You can follow me on [tumblr](http://mm8fic.tumblr.com/).
>   
> 


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